--- description: The United Nations has published a new report examining which countries are the happiest and unhappiest in the world title: This Is the Happiest Country in the World image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f855027eb740bc8/6988bf010b72e34c726ed036/gettyimages-653291826.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [United Nations](/tag/united-nations/) ## United Nations Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Happiest Country in the World (20 Mar 2017) by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 12:33 PM CUT  Satellite imagery of Oslo, Norway on September 8 2016 Satellite imagery of Oslo, Norway on September 8 2016DigitalGlobe—Getty Images by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2017 12:33 PM CUT Yes, you should move to [Norway](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/norway-ousts-denmark-as-worlds-happiest-country-un-report "undefined"). The country is officially the happiest country in the world, according to a [new report](http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/ "undefined") published by the United Nations, _The Guardian_ [reports](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/20/norway-ousts-denmark-as-worlds-happiest-country-un-report "undefined"). It jumped from 4th place in the 2016 rankings. Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland all made the top five, while the U.S. fell one spot from last year to 14th. Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, said the U.S. had fallen because of inequality and corruption. Sachs told _The Guardian_ that the Trump administration’s policies would make these factors worse. “I think everything that has been proposed goes in the wrong direction,” he said. [Yemen](http://time.com/4552712/yemen-war-humanitarian-crisis-famine/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") and South Sudan, which are both fighting famines, came close to the bottom, respectively ranking 146th and 147th out of the 155 countries included. The Central African Republic came last. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4706411/country-happiest-united-nations-sustainable-development/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4706411/country-happiest-united-nations-sustainable-development/"},"headline":"This Is the Happiest Country in the World (20 Mar 2017)","datePublished":"2017-03-20T12:33:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T20:09:04.699Z","description":"It's not the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4706411/country-happiest-united-nations-sustainable-development/","keywords":["United Nations","europe","norway","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f855027eb740bc8/6988bf010b72e34c726ed036/gettyimages-653291826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3f855027eb740bc8/6988bf010b72e34c726ed036/gettyimages-653291826.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"OSLO, NORWAY - SEPTEMBER 8, 2016: DigitalGlobe satellite imagery closeup (1) of Oslo, Norway.","caption":"OSLO, NORWAY - SEPTEMBER 8, 2016: DigitalGlobe satellite imagery closeup (1) of Oslo, Norway.","creditText":"DigitalGlobe—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-nations/","name":"United Nations"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4706411/country-happiest-united-nations-sustainable-development/","name":"This Is the Happiest Country in the World (20 Mar 2017)"}}]}] ```